81 replies to this topic

[whitbytom]

A mate of mine bough a N reg sprite, cooper lookalike from a private seller a couple of years back. He damaged a wing in a bump shortly after buying it and needed a bigger car at the time, so approached a certain Mini specialist in Scarborough to see if they would buy it off him damaged.

They did an HPI check on the car and found out the reg that was on the car corresponded to a car that had been declared a total loss 12 months prior, and crushed. They offered him a cursory £150 for the car (which was immaculate bodywork wise other than the bent wing) for parts, because it's history rendered it worthless.

Fast forward a few months, and my mate drives past aforementioned specialist only to see that his car had had the wing repaired and sprayed, and it is on their forecourt on the same registration for £3750.00.

Now is this actually legal, as far as motor traders go? I'm pretty sure it's not AFAIK, unless the seller makes explicitly clear to potential buyer that it's a write off. And £3750 is a bit steep for a write off no?

My mate is understandably gutted that he's been ripped off, but is conscious of the fact that another hapless individual may get caught in the same trap!

Is there anything that can be done to stop this?

[slyoldfox2001]

torch it !!!!

[backstreetclassics]

if i had been told my car had been wrote off before i would of hpi.ed it before handing it over for 150 quid sounds like they had him over repaired the car and made a profit not a nice way of doing business and and i fill sorry for yr freind mite be worth getting some kind of leagal advice on tho or still do a hpi just to find out

[Jammy]

Tell the DVLA and Trading standards about the car and the garage.

[Ethel]

He's been had by the sound of it the car couldn't have been a write off or the DVLA would have had something to say when it was taxed. I can't really see how he can prove he was deceived when he sold it to them. to be honest he was a bit gullible just to take their word for it.

[Big Man]

Hpi it again and see what comes up, it should still show a total loss if that was the case, now if your mate was told it was a total loss (when it fact it was not) as a result of it being (purportedly) Hpi'd at the garage then persuaded to sell for a lower price then despite it being cer poor on the part of the garage they have also deceived him into parting with the car for a lot less than its worth, so I summise that a criminal offence fo obtining property by deceiption has been committed by the garage.

if: he was told lies re the Hpi check in the first instance by the garage.

and

There is evidence in the form of an Hpi check showing that it is not registered as a total loss.

Furthermore Hpi can show a history of a vehicle including how many times and by whom it has been checked.

Shop him to the cops and dont belive it when they try to fob you off, at the very least it ought to fall under the police property act until its sorted, (so it can't be sold) I would got the garage with £150 and ask to buy it back.

Or in the first instance pretend to be a genuine purchaser and ask if its been Hpi'd and for the result.

Cheers

BM

[Ethel]

All well and good but the difficulty will be in proving the garage claimed it was a write off. It still may be worth going to the police, it could be they're after the garage for something else if they're a collection of dodgy toerags. Might also be interesting to send somebody round or phone to give them the opportunity to make some more fraudulent claims about how they came by the car not sure how you'd turn that in to usable evidence though.

[garrett3]

torch it !!!!

tempting im sure.

[MiniKid..]

torch it !!!!

LMAO

[Silicon Skum]

torch it !!!!

tempting im sure.

Glad I'm not the only one who had that same thought as I read this thread!


I would get in touch with the DVLA and report the whole story to them, if there is any dodgey dealing going on.....then that place is about to get stamped on - big time!
As has been mentioned, getting proof of what was said at the time of sale may be very difficult, may be a good idea to contact C.A.B and trading standards - they may be able to offer some advice.

SS

[simon2007]

so it may be classed as a write off but cant they like claim theve rebuilt it and register as it road worth again?

[Silicon Skum]

so it may be classed as a write off but cant they like claim theve rebuilt it and register as it road worth again?

Possibly, BUT:

They did an HPI check on the car and found out the reg that was on the car corresponded to a car that had been declared a total loss 12 months prior, and crushed.

I would guess that would be a 'No' then....

It is possible however, that the other vehicle was a clone, and this may have been known about at the time - possibly the reason it was crushed. I would imagine that there was some form of record of this reg number being on a cloned vehicle however, and this "may" have been what was said at the time (only maybe not in so many words, and giving a false impression for the sale value - in other words, a deliberate rip-off!).

Sounds bad either way...

SS

[Ethel]

Well if, as they said, the car was recorded as destroyed it wouldn't get reregistered. Neither would your friend have been able to get the V5 transfered to him.

[mab01uk]

Vehicles categorised as A, B or C write-offs now also require a VIC Test (Vehicle Identity Check) before the DVLA will issue a new registration document. This will then be noted on the V5C.

[imabitnaughtyxx]

sounds like the garage/dealer lied, its easy to whip up a fake hpi believe me. I would do a hpi myself to put my mind at rest. would be a cat A or B to warrant the crusher.
Total loss cars cannot be re-registered, taxed mot'ed nothing. The computer wont allow it at the mot station, it voids, dvla wont issue any documents inc v5 on a total loss vehicle.

sounds like fraud.